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For several years I have been planning on building my fid family an outdoor aviary. Last month we broke ground and poured its foundation, complete with drains. Within the next 2 weeks the materials for the structure should be ready to go! I agonized over what type of mesh to use, and finally decided to go with stainless steel mesh, 1/2x1/2 inch. Galvanized after welding is so much cheaper, but I really worried about my bird's exposure to any zinc remaining on the wires, so I decided to bite the bullet and go with stainless steel. There will be a chute from the side of the aviary that'll be directly attached to my bedroom window. I won't have to carry them out to the aviary in carriers, but will be able to place them inside the chute, and then they can fly right into their bird haven. Size of the aviary is 20x10.

Take a look at Suntuf panels. That's what we used. 15 year damage warranty. They sell it at Home Depot too.

The roof will be a combo of every other panel being steel/outdoor patio plastic stuff so that more light can filter through. I didn't want there to be any cross beams onto which my fids could climb, thereby making it a challenge to retrieve them at night. My 4 German Shepherds will do a fine job cleaning up the tossed food at the end of the day. The next door neighbors have a junk heap of stuff collecting in their back yard, which has made their property a great haven for rats. That's one of the main reasons why I went with 1/2x2 inch mesh. And no, I'm located in sunny Southern California. Those are eucalyptus trees, plus bamboo growing on the other side of the fence. Next I'll have to figure out what kinds of bird safe vegetation I'll have growing inside the aviary.

This puts a rest to my suspicions that there is a Grey conspiracy out there to get their hoomans to build luxury aviaries. You'll love being able to shove them in and out from the house. That's the one thing I didn't like about my first outdoor aviary - it's too hard to get in and out of. Once I put them in I was reluctant to pull them out. Silkies make really good cleanup crew if you need something to pickup the food that gets tossed. What kind of roof are you putting on it? Wire? If I didn't know any better, I'd guess you were from Australia. Your yard looks really similar to the yard where my wife grew up in Toowoomba. Those almost look like native australian gum trees.

It all looks so amazing. I'm so excited that I'm going to be putting an aviary out in my garden this year (when the weather gets a little warmer, that is!) I already have a cargo net and a rather large hanging bridge to put in there. I need to build up more supplies to put in there when it's done. It's going to be 12ft long by 6ft wide by 6ft tall. Have always wanted something like that for Alfie and now I'm finally going to be able to do it!